A day after the party high command has asked the ticket hopefulls to submit to the State leaders contact numbers and addresses of at least five people from each polling booth and Congress decided to convene at least 10 meetings in each of the 70 Assembly constituencies of the State before firming up the party’s election manifesto.
With these two incidents political pundits are saying Are congress copying Aam Admi Party (AAP), who had used these tricks before Delhi Assembly election.
This is meant to verify if the ticket hopefuls have enough of connect with the grass-root workers of the constituencies. Political analysts say that to deepen connect with the grass-roots, Congress has been falling back upon the tactic applied Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) before the elections in Delhi, Bihar and other States the party plunged into the contest to adjudge the credentials of the ticket hopefuls vis-à-vis their connect with the grassroots.
Besides, the Congress tactic of convening choupal in each of the Assembly constituencies before firming up the party manifesto is also a copy of the AAP’s earlier tactic. “It proves a worried Congress’s desperation to counter the charismatic appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by strengthening itself at the grassroots,” said an observer.
Notably, Uttarkahand Congress in-charge Ambika Soni during her recent Dehradun visit asked the State party chief to send the panel of three members from each of the 70 Assembly constituencies of the State. The decision to entrust the task to Kishore Upadhyay might not have pleased Chief Minister Harish Rawat and the faction loyal to him. It is well-known how the two leaders differ on the strategy to be adopted regarding PDF-an alliance of non- Congress and non-BJP MlAs which have been lending whole-hearted support to Rawat Government.
While the State party chief is insisting on putting up Congress candidates against the PDF members in case they refuse to contest on Congress tickets Rawat, on the other hand, is for giving them enough leeway to decide whether they are interested to contest on Congress tickets or as independents.
Rawat’s stance is that Congress would not field candidates in case they decide to contest as independents, something that Upadhyay is unable to stomach. Besides, the wily State party chief sought to impress on the party high command to go for one member from one family norm, knowing full well that the CM is eager to foist his offspring in the electoral field.
State Congress leaders said that that the ticket hopefuls have been asked to send the contact numbers and the addresses of the booth-level party workers either through whatsapp or e-mail.
While talking to The Pioneer, the state Congress chief spokesperson Mathura Dutt Joshi denied on Saturday that his party was aping AAP. “True, we have asked the ticket aspirants to send some details. But is has nothing to do with AAP. We have decided to convene 10 public meetings in each of the Assembly constituencies, meaning 700 meetings. This is to ensure that people’s expectations find their ways into the party manifesto. It would also help us to prioritise development programmes in case we form the next Government,” he added.